Fire evacuation support system and fire door control device

ABSTRACT

Provided, on each floor of a building, are an elevator installation zone, in which an elevator is installed, a neighboring zone which neighbors the elevator installation zone, and is in communication with the elevator installation zone through a first communication port, and an external zone which is in communication with the neighboring zone through a second communication port different from the first communication port. The first communication port is opened and closed by a first fire door, and the second communication port is opened and closed by a second fire door. A fire evacuation support system manages an operation of the elevator based on information from a plurality of fire detectors provided on each floor when a fire occurs in the building. Further, the fire evacuation support system includes an evacuation operation command section in which implementation of an evacuation operation for transporting a person left in the building to an evacuation floor is allowed for the elevator when contamination due to the fire is avoided in both the elevator installation zone and the neighboring zone, and in which the implementation of the evacuation operation is stopped when at least anyone of the elevator installation zone and the neighboring zone is contaminated due to the fire.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a fire evacuation support system and afire door control device, for evacuating a person left in a buildingwhen a fire occurs in the building.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, a fire control operation system for an elevator forrescuing a person left in a building to an evacuation floor uponoperation of a fire detector installed in the building, has beenproposed. In the conventional fire control operation system for theelevator, an evacuation time until fire or smoke reaches an elevatorhall is pre-calculated based on information from the fire detector.Then, a rescue operation of the elevator for rescuing the left person isperformed within the range of the pre-calculated evacuation time.Therefore, the rescue operation of the elevator is sometimes performeduntil the fire or the smoke reaches the elevator hall (see PatentDocument 1).

-   Patent Document 1: WO 2004/101418

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

If the evacuation operation is continued until the elevator hall iscontaminated by a flame or the smoke, however, a risk of occurrence of asudden failure of the elevator during the evacuation operation due to,for example, the flame or water used for fire fighting becomes higher.Therefore, in order to prevent the rescue operation from being stoppedfor the failure (abnormality) of the elevator, each of fire prevention,smoke-proof, and water-proof measures is required to be taken for theelevator, disadvantageously resulting in an increase in cost.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problemdescribed above, and has an object to obtain a fire evacuation supportsystem and a fire door control device, which are capable of preventingan operation from being stopped for abnormality of an elevator and ofpreventing an increase in cost.

Means for Solving the Problems

A fire evacuation support system manages an operation of an elevatorbased on information from a plurality of fire detectors provided on eachof a plurality of floors when a fire occurs in a building. The buildingincludes, on each of the plurality of floors, an elevator installationzone in which the elevator is installed, a neighboring zone neighboringthe elevator installation zone, the neighboring zone being incommunication with the elevator installation zone through a firstcommunication port, and an external zone in communication with theneighboring zone through a second communication port different from thefirst communication port, the first communication port being opened andclosed by a first fire door, and the second communication port beingopened and closed by a second fire door. The fire evacuation supportsystem includes: an evacuation operation command section in whichimplementation of an evacuation operation for transporting a person leftin the building to an evacuation floor is allowed for the elevator whencontamination due to the fire is avoided in both the elevatorinstallation zone and the neighboring zone, and in which theimplementation of the evacuation operation is stopped when at least anyone of the elevator installation zone and the neighboring zone iscontaminated due to the fire.

A fire door control device controls an operation of each of a first firedoor for opening and closing a first communication port and a secondfire door for opening and closing a second communication port differentfrom the first communication port based on information from a pluralityof fire detectors provided on each of a plurality of floors of abuilding when a fire occurs in the building including, on each of theplurality of floors, an elevator installation zone in which an elevatoris installed, a neighboring zone neighboring the elevator installationzone, the neighboring zone being in communication with the elevatorinstallation zone through the first communication port, and an externalzone in communication with the neighboring zone through the secondcommunication port. The fire door control device causes each of thefirst fire door and the second fire door provided on an operation targetfloor preset to correspond to a fire occurrence floor on which the firedetector has detected contamination due to the fire, among the firstfire doors and the second fire doors provided on the plurality offloors, to operate in conjunction with a detection of the fire by thefire detector on the fire occurrence floor to close each of the firstcommunication port and the second communication port.

Effects of the Invention

In the evacuation control system using the elevator according to thepresent invention, it is judged whether or not the evacuation operationof the elevator can be performed based on the presence/absence of thecontamination due to the fire in each of the elevator installation zone,the neighboring zone, and the external zone. The implementation of theevacuation operation is stopped when at least any one of the elevatorinstallation zone and the neighboring zone is contaminated due to thefire. Therefore, the evacuation operation of the elevator can benormally terminated before the contamination due to the fire reaches theelevator installation zone from the neighboring zone. Accordingly, theevacuation operation can be prevented from being stopped for theabnormality of the elevator. Moreover, it is no longer necessary to takeexcessive fire-prevention, smoke-proof, and water-proof measures, andhence it is also possible to prevent an increase in cost.

In the fire door control device according to the present invention, eachof the first fire door and the second fire door, which are provided onthe operation target floor preset to correspond to the fire occurrencefloor on which the fire detector has detected the contamination due tothe fire, is operated in conjunction with the detection of the fire bythe fire detector on the fire occurrence floor to close each of thefirst communication port and the second communication port. Therefore,it can be further ensured that the flame or the smoke is delayed inreaching the elevator installation zone and the neighboring zone. As aresult, when the elevator performs the evacuation operation, theevacuation operation can be prevented from being stopped for theabnormality of the elevator. Moreover, it is no longer necessary to takeexcessive fire-prevention, smoke-proof, and water-proof measures, andhence it is also possible to prevent the increase in cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a fire evacuation support systemaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a building provided with an elevatorillustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for illustrating the operation of processing afterthe start of the evacuation operation by the evacuation operationcommand section illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating the operation of processingperformed by the fire door control section illustrated in FIG. 1.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention isdescribed referring to the drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating afire evacuation support systemaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is aplan view illustrating a building provided with an elevator illustratedin FIG. 1. In the figures, in a building 1, a plurality of elevatorgroups 2 are provided. Each of the elevator groups 2 includes aplurality of elevators 3.

On each floor of the building 1, a common landing (elevator hall), inwhich each of the elevators 3 is installed, and a passage adjacent tothe landing are provided. The landing corresponds to an elevatorinstallation zone 4. The passage is divided into a neighboring zone 5which neighbors the elevator installation zone 4, and two external zones6 and 7, each neighboring the neighboring zone 5 and being apart fromthe elevator installation zone 4 (FIG. 2).

The neighboring zone 5 is in communication with the elevatorinstallation zone 4 through a first communication port 8. First firedoors 9 for opening and closing the first communication port 8 areprovided between the elevator installation zone 4 and the neighboringzone 5. Each of the external zones 6 and 7 is in communication with theneighboring zone 5 through second communication ports 10 which aredifferent from the first communication port 8. Second fire doors 11 foropening and closing the second communication ports 10 are providedbetween the neighboring zone 5 and the external zone 6 and between theneighboring zone 5 and the external zone 7, respectively (FIG. 2).Therefore, each of the elevator installation zone 4 and the neighboringzone 5 is a fire-prevention zone which can be partitioned by the firedoors.

The neighboring zone 5 has a predetermined size surrounding the firstcommunication port 8. A distance from the first communication port 8 toeach of the second communication ports 10 is determined not to exceed apreset predetermined distance (for example, 10 m or the like).Specifically, each of the second communication ports 10 is providedwithin the range from the first communication port 8 to a position whichis away therefrom by the predetermined distance.

In the building 1, an emergency stairway (not shown) for allowing aperson present in the building 1 to move between the floors is providedto neighbor the passage. In this example, among all the floors of thebuilding 1, a ground floor corresponding to an entrance floor serves asan evacuation floor.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, each of the elevators 3 includes a car 12which can stop at each of the floors and a controller 13 for controllinga travel of the car 12. The respective operations of the elevators 3 arecollectively managed by a group management device 14 for each of theelevator groups 2.

On each of the floors, a plurality of fire detectors 15 for detectingthe contamination by a flame, smoke, or the like due to a fire areprovided. The fire detectors 15 on each of the floors are provided inthe elevator installation zone 4, the neighboring zone 5, and theexternal zones 6 and 7, respectively. Information from each of the firedetectors 15 is transmitted to a disaster prevention management device16 for collectively managing the disaster prevention devices in theentire building 1. The disaster prevention management device 16 detectswhether or not the fire has occurred based on the information from eachof the fire detectors 15. The disaster prevention management device 16generates a signal according to the position of the fire detector 15which has detected the contamination due to the fire.

The information from the disaster prevention management device 16 istransmitted to an evacuation support device 17 for collectively managingthe group management devices 14 in case of fire. Specifically, theinformation from each of the fire detectors 15 is transmitted to theevacuation support device 17 through the disaster prevention managementdevice 16. The evacuation support device 17 causes each of the elevators3 to perform an evacuation operation for transporting the person presentin the building from each of the floors to the evacuation floor afterthe occurrence of the fire is detected by the disaster preventionmanagement device 16.

The evacuation support device 17 includes a communication section 18, afire situation judgment section 19, a fire door control section (firedoor control device) 20, and an evacuation operation command section 21.

The communication section 18 performs information communication betweeneach of the group management devices 14 and the disaster preventionmanagement device 16, and the evacuation support device 17.

The fire situation judgment section 19 judges the presence/absence ofthe contamination due to the fire for each of the elevator installationzone 4, the neighboring zone 5, and the external zones 6 and 7 based onthe information obtained from each of the fire detectors 15 through thedisaster prevention management device 16. The judgment of thepresence/absence of the contamination due to the fire for each of theelevator installation zone 4, the neighboring zone 5, and the externalzones 6 and 7 is performed based on whether or not the fire detectors 15respectively provided in the zones 4 to 7 have detected thecontamination due to the fire.

The fire door control section 20 controls the respective operations ofthe first fire doors 9 and the second fire doors 11 based on informationfrom the fire situation judgment section 19. Specifically, when at leastany one of the fire detectors 15 provided on each of the floors detectsthe contamination due to the fire, the fire door control section 20causes the first fire doors 9 and the second fire doors 11, which areprovided on the floor on which the fire detector 15 detects thecontamination due to the fire (fire occurrence floor) and on the floorsituated directly above the fire occurrence floor (floor directly abovethe fire), to perform a door closing operation regardless of thepresence/absence of the contamination due to the fire in the elevatorinstallation zone 4, the neighboring zone 5, and the external zones 6and 7. As a result, the first communication port 8 and the secondcommunication ports 10 on each of the fire occurrence floor and thefloor directly above the fire are closed. The door closing operation ofeach of the first fire doors 9 and the second fire doors 11 is performedin conjunction with the detection of the contamination due to the fireby the fire detector 15 on the fire occurrence floor. Specifically, inthis example, the fire occurrence floor and the floor directly above thefire are preset as operation target floors, each being provided with thefirst fire doors 9 and the second fire doors 11 operating in conjunctionwith the detection of the fire by the fire detector 15 on the fireoccurrence floor.

The evacuation operation command section 21 judges whether or not theevacuation operation of the elevator 3 can be implemented based on theinformation from the fire situation judgment section 19. Specifically,the evacuation operation command section 21 judges that the evacuationoperation can be implemented when the contamination due to the fire isavoided in both the elevator installation zone 4 and the neighboringzone 5, and judges that the evacuation operation cannot be implementedwhen at least any one of the elevator installation zone 4 and theneighboring zone 5 is contaminated due to the fire.

The evacuation operation command section 21 also outputs a command ofthe evacuation operation to each of the group management devices 14 whenthe evacuation operation can be implemented, and stops the output of thecommand of the evacuation operation when the evacuation operation can nolonger be implemented. Upon reception of the command of the evacuationoperation from the evacuation operation command section 21, each of thegroup management devices 14 manages each of the elevators 3 to performthe evacuation operation.

Specifically, the evacuation operation command section 21 allows each ofthe elevators 3 to implement the evacuation operation only when thecontamination due to the fire is avoided in both the elevatorinstallation zone 4 and the neighboring zone 5. The evacuation operationcommand section 21 stops the implementation of the evacuation operationof each of the elevators 3 when at least any one of the elevatorinstallation zone 4 and the neighboring zone 5 is contaminated due tothe fire. The evacuation operation is performed by creating anevacuation operation plan including a floor at which the car 12 isstopped, a time required for the car 12 to stop at the floor, and thelike based on the information from the fire situation judgment section19 and then moving the car 12 based on the thus created evacuationoperation plan.

The evacuation support device 17 is constituted by a computer includingan arithmetic processing section (CPU), a storage section (ROM, RAM, orthe like) and a signal input/output section. The functions of thecommunication section 18, the fire situation judgment section 19, thefire door control section 20, and the evacuation operation commandsection 21 are realized by the computer of the evacuation support device17.

Specifically, in the storage section of the computer, a program forrealizing the functions of the communication section 18, the firesituation judgment section 19, the fire door control section 20, and theevacuation operation command section 21 is stored. The arithmeticprocessing section executes arithmetic processing regarding thefunctions of the evacuation support device 17 based on the programstored in the storage section.

Next, an operation is described. When the occurrence of the fire isdetected by the disaster prevention management device 16, information ofdetermination of the occurrence of the fire, including information ofthe position of the fire detector 15 which has detected the fire, istransmitted from the disaster prevention management device 16 to theevacuation support device 17. When the evacuation support device 17receives the information from the disaster prevention management device16, the fire situation judgment section 19 judges the presence/absenceof the contamination due to the fire for each of the elevatorinstallation zone 4, the neighboring zone 5, and the external zones 6and 7 on each floor.

When neither the elevator installation zone 4 nor the neighboring zone 5is contaminated, the command of the evacuation operation is output fromthe evacuation operation command section 21 to each of the groupmanagement devices 14 to start the evacuation operation of each of theelevators 3. When at least any one of the elevator installation zone 4and the neighboring zone 5 is contaminated, the operation of each of theelevators 3 is stopped without implementing the evacuation operation.

Next, an operation of processing after the start of the evacuationoperation is described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for illustrating theoperation of processing after the start of the evacuation operation bythe evacuation operation command section 21 illustrated in FIG. 1. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, upon start of the evacuation operation (S1),whether or not the neighboring zone 5 is contaminated due to the fire isjudged by the fire situation judgment section 19 (S2). When theneighboring zone 5 is contaminated, the output of the command of theevacuation operation from the evacuation operation command section 21 isstopped to terminate the evacuation operation (S3).

When the neighboring zone 5 is not contaminated, whether or not theelevator installation zone 4 is contaminated due to the fire is thenjudged by the fire situation judgment section 19 (S4). When the elevatorinstallation zone 4 is contaminated, the output of the command of theevacuation operation from the evacuation operation command section 21 isstopped to terminate the evacuation operation (S3). When the elevatorinstallation zone 4 is not contaminated, the evacuation operation iscontinued and the presence/absence of the contamination due to the firein the neighboring zone 5 and the elevator installation zone 4 isrepeatedly judged by the fire situation judgment section 19.

Next, an operation of processing performed by the fire door controlsection 20 is described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating theoperation of processing performed by the fire door control section 20illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the information of thedetermination of occurrence of the fire from the disaster preventionmanagement device 16 is transmitted to the evacuation support device 17,and the presence/absence of the contamination due to the fire on each ofthe floors is judged by the fire situation judgment section 19. Then,the fire door control section 20 judges whether or not each of thefloors is the fire occurrence floor based on the information from thefire situation judgment section 19 (S11).

When the floor corresponds to the fire occurrence floor, the doorclosing operation is performed for each of the first fire doors 9 andthe second fire doors 11 provided on the fire occurrence floor by thecontrol of the fire door control section 20 to close each of the firecommunication port 8 and the second communication ports 10 (S12).

When the floor does not correspond to the fire occurrence floor, it isjudged by the fire door control section 20 whether or not the floor isthe floor directly above the fire (S13). When the floor corresponds tothe floor directly above the fire, the door closing operation isperformed for each of the first fire doors 9 and the second fire doors11 provided on the floor directly above the fire by the control of thefire door control section 20 to close each of the fire communicationport 8 and the second communication ports 10 (S12). When the floor doesnot correspond even to the floor directly above the fire, the doorclosing operation is not performed for the first fire doors 9 and thesecond fire doors 11 provided on the floor. Therefore, each of the firstcommunication port 8 and the second communication ports 10 is left open.

In the fire evacuation support system described above, it is judgedwhether or not the evacuation operation of the elevator 3 can beperformed based on the presence/absence of the contamination due to thefire in each of the elevator installation zone 4, the neighboring zone5, and the external zones 6 and 7. Then, when at least any one of theelevator installation zone 4 and the neighboring zone 5 is contaminateddue to the fire, the implementation of the evacuation operation of theelevator 3 is stopped. Therefore, the evacuation operation of theelevator 3 can be normally terminated before the contamination due tothe fire reaches the elevator installation zone 4 from the neighboringzone 5. Therefore, the risk of a failure of each of the elevators 3 dueto, for example, the flame or the water used for fire fighting can bekept low, thereby preventing the evacuation operation from being stoppedfor the abnormality of the elevator 3. Moreover, excessivefire-prevention, smoke-proof, and water-proof measures are no longerrequired, and hence it is also possible to prevent the increase in cost.

Moreover, the operation of each of the first fire doors 9 and the secondfire doors 11 is controlled by the fire door control section 20 based onthe information from each of the fire detectors 15, and hence the personpresent in the building is not required to manually move the first firedoors 9 and the second fire doors 11. As a result, the flame or thesmoke can be easily and effectively delayed in reaching the elevatorinstallation zone 4 and the neighboring zone 5. Therefore, animplementation time of the evacuation operation of each of the elevators3 can be further increased.

Further, among the first fire doors 9 and the second fire doors 11provided on all the floors, the first fire doors 9 and the second firedoors 11 provided on the fire occurrence floor and the floor directlyabove the fire are operated in conjunction with the detection of thefire by the fire detector 15 on the fire occurrence floor to close eachof the first communication port 8 and the second communication ports 10.Therefore, it can be further ensured that the flame or the smoke isdelayed in reaching the elevator installation zone 4 and the neighboringzone 5. As a result, the evacuation operation can be prevented frombeing stopped for the abnormality of the elevator 3. Moreover, excessivefire-prevention, smoke-proof, and water-proof measures are no longerrequired, and hence it is also possible to prevent the increase in cost.

While the fire door control section 20 is included in the evacuationsupport device 17 in the example described above, the fire door controlsection 20 may be mounted in the disaster prevention management device16.

While the landing of the elevator 3 corresponds to the elevatorinstallation zone 4 in the example described above, the elevatorinstallation zone 4 may be any zone as long as the elevator 3 isinstalled therein, and therefore, may be, for example, a machine roomprovided in an upper part of the elevator 3, an electric room in whichan electrical wiring of the elevator 3 is installed, or the like. Inthis case, the neighboring zone 5 is provided to neighbor the machineroom or the electric room of the elevator 3.

Further, while the floors, each being provided with the first fire doors9 and the second fire doors 11 operating in conjunction with theoperation of the fire detector 15 upon detection of the contaminationdue to the fire occurring on the fire occurrence floor, are the fireoccurrence floor and the floor directly above the fire in the exampledescribed above, such floors are not limited thereto. The floors asdescribed above may be the fire occurrence floor and a floor situateddirectly below the fire occurrence floor (floor directly below thefire), or may also be the fire occurrence floor, the floor directlyabove the fire, and the floor directly below the fire. In this case, thefloors, each being provided with the first fire doors 9 and the secondfire doors 11 operating in conjunction, are set by determining the fireoccurrence floor, the floor directly above the fire, the floor directlybelow the fire, or the like as the operation target floors. Theoperation target floor is a floor with a high risk of occurrence of thefailure of each of the elevators 3 caused by the contamination due tothe fire.

Further, while each of the first fire doors 9 and the second fire doors11 is operated by the control of the fire door control section 20regardless of the presence/absence of the contamination due to the firein the elevator installation zone 4, the neighboring zone 5, and theexternal zones 6 and 7 in the above-mentioned example, the operation ofeach of the first fire doors 9 and the second fire doors 11 may becontrolled based on information of the presence/absence of thecontamination due to the fire in the elevator installation zone 4, theneighboring zone 5, and the external zones 6 and 7. In this case, whenthe external zone 6 corresponding to one of the two external zones iscontaminated due to the fire, the second fire door 11 is caused toperform the door closing operation to close the second communicationport 10 on the external zone 6 side. When the external zone 7corresponding to the other one of the two external zones is contaminateddue to the fire, the second fire door 11 is caused to perform the doorclosing operation to close the second communication port 10 on theexternal zone 7 side. Further, when the second fire-prevention zone 5 iscontaminated due to the fire, the first fire doors 9 are caused toperform the door closing operation to close the first communication port8.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A fire evacuation support system formanaging an operation of an elevator based on information from aplurality of fire detectors provided on each of a plurality of floorswhen a fire occurs in a building, the building including, on each of theplurality of floors, an elevator installation zone in which the elevatoris installed, a neighboring zone neighboring the elevator installationzone, the neighboring zone being in communication with the elevatorinstallation zone through a first communication port, and an externalzone in communication with the neighboring zone through a secondcommunication port different from the first communication port, thefirst communication port being opened and closed by a first fire door,and the second communication port being opened and closed by a secondfire door, the fire evacuation support system comprising an evacuationoperation command section in which implementation of an evacuationoperation for transporting a person left in the building to anevacuation floor is allowed for the elevator when contamination due tothe fire is avoided in both the elevator installation zone and theneighboring zone, and in which the implementation of the evacuationoperation is stopped when at least any one of the elevator installationzone and the neighboring zone is contaminated due to the fire.
 2. A fireevacuation support system according to claim 1, further comprising afire door control section for controlling an operation of each of thefirst fire door and the second fire door based on the information fromeach of the fire detectors.
 3. A fire evacuation support systemaccording to claim 2, wherein the fire door control section causes eachof the first fire door and the second fire door provided on an operationtarget floor preset to correspond to a fire occurrence floor on whichthe fire detector has detected the contamination due to the fire, amongthe first fire doors and the second fire doors provided on the pluralityof floors, to operate in conjunction with a detection of the fire by thefire detector on the fire occurrence floor to close each of the firstcommunication port and the second communication port.
 4. A fire doorcontrol device for controlling an operation of each of a first fire doorfor opening and closing a first communication port and a second firedoor for opening and closing a second communication port different fromthe first communication port based on information from a plurality offire detectors provided on each of a plurality of floors of a buildingwhen a fire occurs in the building including, on each of the pluralityof floors, an elevator installation zone in which an elevator isinstalled, a neighboring zone neighboring the elevator installationzone, the neighboring zone being in communication with the elevatorinstallation zone through the first communication port, and an externalzone in communication with the neighboring zone through the secondcommunication port, wherein the fire door control device causes each ofthe first fire door and the second fire door provided on an operationtarget floor preset to correspond to a fire occurrence floor on whichthe fire detector has detected contamination due to the fire, among thefirst fire doors and the second fire doors provided on the plurality offloors, to operate in conjunction with a detection of the fire by thefire detector on the fire occurrence floor to close each of the firstcommunication port and the second communication port.